I served as an admonisher in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 72 Don’t mess with honest people, Chen Zhizhong’s weakness
The Third Secretary Zhang Fangping's "Book on Scholars' Wealthlessness" instantly made the court lively.

Some articles with obvious "Tai Xue style" also began to circulate in the hands of officials.

During the Zhenzong period, Xikun style, which pursued formal beauty and gorgeous rhetoric, was popular. However, it was criticized by Ouyang Xiu, Shi Jie and others because of its lack of true feelings.

Candidates from the Imperial College and Imperial College continued to adjust their styles and gradually developed into the Imperial College style.

Taixue style is not as flashy and clever as Xikun style, but it has become obscure and difficult to understand.

In short.

Taixueti's style is that he doesn't speak human words, is known for being dangerous and weird, and likes to criticize current affairs.

This characteristic of criticizing current affairs is really due to Shi Jie.

When Shi Jie was lecturing, what he liked most was to criticize the current shortcomings of Confucianism.

The most famous is Shi Jie's "Ode to the Holy Virtue of Qingli", but the style of this article is not considered to be dangerous and obscure.

For a time, Taixue Ti became angry in the court.

First of all.

Ding Du, a Hanlin scholar, and Wang Yaochen, a bachelor of the Imperial Academy, were the first to express their stance.

The two were full of praise for Zhang Fangping's article.

He said that the current literary style has deteriorated, and scholars all over the world have suffered from the Taixue style for a long time, so they should abandon the Taixue style.

Followed by.

Du Yan, Wu Yu and Chen Zhizhong presented the memorial.

These three figures recognized that the "Tai Xue Style" writing style was originally developed to suppress the original gorgeous rhetoric of Xi Kun Style. Although it went to extremes, it still had merits.

At this time, it is too late to change the style of writing in the examination room.

This will cause many students who have studied hard for three years to fail because of this. It is recommended to maintain the status quo and make adjustments next year.

Subsequently.

Sun Fu, the eunuch of the Imperial Academy, presented the memorial.

He believes that the Taixue style is not obscure and difficult to understand, and he and Shi Jie have never tried to resist the eccentric and wandering style of writing. It is a style of writing that students gradually developed in order to prepare for exams.

Although this style is strange, the courage to talk about current affairs is not without merit.

Next.

Censor Zhongcheng Wang Gongchen began to play.

I have to admit that the angle Wang Zhongcheng found was very tricky.

Wang Gongchen believes that this weird, wandering and obscure writing style was the result of Shi Jie and Sun Fu's preaching and guidance in Guozijian and Taixue.

But Su Liang, the supervisory censor, was also a promoter.

It was Su Liang's strong advocacy of expanding state and county schools last year that led to the widespread spread of the Taixue style.

In addition, Ouyang Xiu repeatedly recommended Shi Jie's articles, which was also responsible for promoting this trend.

What's more reliable about Wang Gongchen is that he didn't dare to accuse Ouyang Xiu of being a Taixue practitioner.

Ouyang Xiu's writing style is self-contained and completely different from Taixue style. Anyone who is not blind can see it.

At last.

Even Xia Song, the Privy Council envoy who had just returned to Beijing and Shi Jie's lifelong enemy, also spoke.

Whoever ruins Shi Jie's reputation, Xia Song will definitely help!

Xia Song claimed that Shi Jie was the culprit of this obscure style of writing and should be abandoned.

The officials in the court held their own opinions and became a mess.

Some really hate the Taixue Organization, some are avenging their personal vengeance, and still others are defending the Taixue Organization...

Shi Jie Ruoquan learned about it.

After his death, he almost had his grave dug up, and then he was scolded for being the wrong son.

It is estimated that the coffin boards cannot hold it down, and Tuomeng will have to defend himself.

……

At this moment, no one was in the worst mood than Zhao Zhen.

Zhao Zhen flipped through the memorials and was so angry that he could hardly eat.

Officials throughout the dynasty were discussing the faults of Taixue Ti and the faults of Shi Jie and Sun Fu.

But no one knows if the current imperial examination writing style is changed, whether students will cause trouble in the future, and how to change it.Some officials in the Song Dynasty were best at asking questions or discovering other people's problems, but they were unable to solve them.

In the end, they were arguing with each other. The matter was not resolved, but it encouraged infighting among officials.

now.

Neither Ouyang Xiu, a Hanlin scholar, nor Su Liang, a supervisory censor, spoke.

The two of them haven't decided what to say yet.

Ouyang Xiu also did not like Taixue style, but he did not think that the articles written by Shi Jie and Sun Fu were Taixue style.

This style of writing is just the product of overcorrecting Xikun style.

In order to gain fame, students will naturally follow whichever style of writing is the mainstream.

As for Su Liang.

He is also a Jinshi, so he naturally knows that the Taixue style has many shortcomings, but he has not yet figured out how to solve this problem.

The following afternoon.

Zhao Zhen ordered a court meeting to resolve the issue of Taixue Ti.

Officials from the two government agencies, the Hanlin Academy, the Taijian Academy, and the Imperial Academy all came to the Chui Gong Hall.

Just as Su Liang expected.

As soon as Zhao Zhen asked the officials what they thought, the officials began to debate.

Lotus flowers were spitting out of their mouths and foam flew everywhere.

Zhao Zhen sat above and listened casually.

He has become accustomed to this feeling of "chaotang vegetable market" and can even sleep peacefully amidst the quarrels of the ministers.

Zhao Zhen was waiting until the officials were tired of arguing.

The officials were tired, and for Zhao Zhen, this was the beginning of the court discussion.

After half an hour.

The discussion gradually became quieter.

"Ahem..." Zhao Zhen coughed twice, and His Highness suddenly became quiet.

Zhao Zhen sat up straight and said loudly: "Gentlemen, let's discuss a topic first. Should we change our writing style in this year's provincial examination?"

Generally, half a month before the provincial examination, the imperial court would post the subject directions and precautions for the provincial examination in front of the gate of Gongyuan.

If the writing style changes this year, candidates will naturally be notified in advance.

Wu Yu was the first to stand up and said: "Officials, I think that even if it is changed, it cannot be changed this year. Now the sudden change in the style of writing in the examination room will definitely cause dissatisfaction among many candidates, and it is easy to cause trouble!"

After Wu Yugang finished speaking, Hanlin Dingdu stood up.

"I think it must be changed this year, otherwise this unhealthy habit will be difficult to eradicate and we will not be able to recruit outstanding talents for our court!"

After hearing this, the Imperial College said that Sun Fu couldn't bear it any longer and strode out.

"In the official family, the Taixue style is just a style of writing. Whether the candidates have real talents or practical learning cannot be limited by the style of writing. What Ding Daizhao means is that when I recruited scholars in the previous dynasties, were they not all good talents? At the moment , Su Jingming and Wang Jiefu were both Jinshi in the second year of Qingli, aren’t they talented people?”

Sun Fu said with a dark face and extremely angry.

He and Shi Jie worked hard in the Imperial Academy to cultivate talents, but suddenly they became misguided disciples.

This is absolutely unacceptable to him.

Su Liang couldn't help but blush slightly when he heard Sun Fu praising him, then he stood up straight and puffed out his chest.

At this time, Chen Zhizhong couldn't help but stand up.

"Sun Zhizhi said, don't generalize. We are discussing the current imperial examination style, don't talk about other things!" Chen Zhizhong stared, thinking about using his official position to suppress Sun Fu.

Sun Fu was immediately annoyed and retorted directly: "May I ask Prime Minister Chen, you keep talking about the imperial examination style of writing, but have you ever participated in the imperial examination?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire court fell silent.

The only person here who has never taken the imperial examination is Chen Zhizhong.

Su Liang twisted his thigh hard to suppress laughter.

Sun Fu was an honest man, usually very elegant. The fact that he could say such harsh words showed that he felt deeply wronged!
Chen Zhizhong's face turned livid with anger, he flicked his long sleeves and stood back.

He had never taken the imperial examination to become an official, which was his biggest weakness during his many years as an official.

(End of this chapter)